The Fletcher Family
Passenger Profile

Moses Fletcher traveled as a single man on the Mayflower, choosing to leave his wife and children behind to join him later.

He was a signer of the Mayflower Compact on 11 November 1620 while the ship was anchored at Provincetown Harbor. He died during the sickness of the first winter of 1620/21.

Moses was born circa 1564, possibly in the area of Sandwich, Kent, England where he married his first wife, Mary Evans, at St. Peters Parish, on 30 October 1589. He and Mary had 10 children baptized there: Mary, John, Catharin, Richard, Prescylla, Moyses (died young), Elyzabeth, Jayne, Judith and Moyses Fletcher. Although none of his children emigrated to Plymouth, their descendants have Mayflower descent.

Moses was a widower when he married 2) at Leiden, Holland, 21 December 1613, Sarah Denby, widow of William Denby.

Children of Moses and Sarah Fletcher: (baptisms & burials at St. Peter’s)

  1. Mary Fletcher, baptized 4 January 1589/90; no further record.
  2. John Fletcher, born circa 1592; living at Leiden, 13 February 1656; married intentions at Leiden, 5 December 1618, Josina Sacharias; they had four children: Mary, Sacharias, Josyna and Moses Fletcher.
  3. Catharin Fletcher, baptized 1 September 1594; no further record.
  4. Richard Fletcher, baptized 2 January 1596/97; no further record.
  5. Prescylla Fletcher, baptized 24 March 1599/1600; living 1652; married 1) at Leiden, 4 April 1626, Thomas Coit/Koet; they had four children: Sarah, Ian, Dirk and Dorothea Koet; she married 2) at Leiden, 1 June 1637, Help/Salomon Terry; they had one child: Maria Terry.
  6. Moyses Fletcher, baptized 10 October 1602, buried 21 April 1603
  7. Elyzabeth Fletcher, baptized 8 April 1604; living 28 September 1677; possibly the Lijsbet Vershoore buried in St. Pancras Church, Leiden, the week of 23 July 1689; married 1) Caspar Barnaart; married 2) at Leiden, 21 May 1636, Michiel Voorschoren; they had four children: John, Judith, Maria and Michiel Voorschoren.
  8. Jayne Fletcher, baptized 8 February 1606/07; no further record.
  9. Judith Fletcher, buried 6 November 1609. 
  1. Moses Fletcher, baptized 2 April 1609; no further record.

Sources:

“Pilgrim Moses Fletcher’s Family,” by Robert S. Wakefield, The Mayflower Quarterly [MQ] 41 [May 1975]:45-46. 

Mayflower Passenger References, (from contemporary records and scholarly journals), by Susan E. Roser. 2011. pp. 224-226.